This invention relates to upholstered furniture elements for use as backs, seats or arms of seating units such as chairs and the like, and to seating units constituted of these elements as well as to methods of making them.
Important specific applications of the invention, to which detailed reference will be made herein for purposes of illustration, reside in the provision of office and home furnishings, such as chairs and other seating units, for example chairs having plural separate upholstered elements (including a back, a seat, and sometimes also arms) which may be adjustable in relative position to suit the user's comfort and are supported together on a pedestal or other base. Typically, each of these elements is self-sustaining in shape, having a rigid internal structure at least partially surrounded by a foam or other cushioning body, and an external covering web of flexible sheet material (e.g. fabric, leather, or vinyl) stretched over the internal structure and the cushion. This cover is customarily joined at a seam extending along or adjacent a peripheral edge of the element, and a bead-shaped welt is commonly formed or provided along the seam for reasons of appearance and/or protection. Frequently, though not always, at least some of the elements of a chair are contoured with complex surface curvature, again for the sake of appearance and also to conform to the user's body. Important or desired attributes of chairs of the described type, and their constituent elements, include aesthetically pleasing design, comfort, durability, and ease of manufacture and repair.
Heretofore, however, the production of such upholstered chair elements has presented problems, owing in particular to the difficulty of properly stretching the cover, forming the seam (e.g by hand sewing the seam closed, or providing a zipper to close it), and forming or attaching the welt around the complex curves of the element surfaces. Like difficulties have been encountered in repairing or reupholstering these elements. The attachment of support members for adjustably interconnecting the chair elements has presented still further complications in manufacture.